Say Hi
by Camaro-Enthusiast
Summary: Mason Street, Hill Valley was home to two unlikely friends over the years. A series of vignettes about one Biff Tannen and one Lorraine Baines in ten parts. New Chapter & Epilogue Up. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

September 7, 1943, 7:50 a.m., Hill Valley, Mason St.

"Now, Lorraine, smile!" Stella Baines says, holding the camera close to her face. "Your first day of school. Oh, honey, how exciting!" She snaps a photograph then sets the Kodak Brownie camera down on the table and waddles over to her daughter to fuss with her hair.

"Mom, stop. You'll mess up my pony tails."

"Yes, dear. Sam, stop fiddling with your things and come and see Lorraine!"

The man grunts and comes into the kitchen. "Very nice, Lorraine."

"Thanks, Daddy," the girl says shyly. "Can I go now? Please?"

"Now, dear, don't you think you should go with Mary from down the block?" Stella asks as they walk down to the sidewalk."

"I can walk with her, Miz Baines," a small voice pipes in.

"Oh, Biff, that's a wonderful idea." The pregnant woman ruffles the boy's brown hair. "Have a good day, now!"

Lorraine rolls her eyes. "Hi, Biff."

He pulls at his collar. "Hey, Lorraine. You…uh, you ready for school?"

The five year old nods. "Is it scary?"

"What, school? No, it ain't."

She purses her lips. "Don't say ain't."

The older boy's ears turn red. "Uh, right."

Lorraine looks down Mason Street and slips her hand into his. "You're sure it's not scary?"

He looks sideways at her. "I'm sure. Besides," he puffs out his chest, "I'll look out for you."

She looks up at him with wide brown eyes. "Do you promise?"

His face hardens. "Tannens don't make promises."

"Why's that?"

Biff shrugs. "I dunno. Cuz we never keep 'em, I guess. That's what the old lady says."

"Your gramma, you mean? Isn't she a Tannen, though?"

"Only cuz of who she married. Least, that's what she says when she yells at me."

Lorraine bites her lip, and then squeezes his hand, as if in apology. "How come you don't got a mom or dad?"

He snorts sadly. "I do too got a mom and dad. They're just not around."

"Why's that?"

"Cuz. Dad's in jail. An' Mom's…sick."

"Oh."

He pulls his hand away. "See, you can't count on a Tannen for nothin'."

They're almost to the school, Lorraine realizes. She grabs his arm. The six year old gives her a long-suffering glance.

"What, kid?"

"Maybe, nobody can count on you, cuz you don't let 'em," Lorraine says. "But I will. You'll walk me home, won't ya?" She doesn't give him any time to answer, skipping up the steps in her shiny Mary Jane's.

Biff Tannen looks after her and grins. "Lorraine Baines," he whispers to himself and follows her inside Hill Valley Elementary.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

May 8, 1945, 6:08 p.m., Hill Valley, Mason St.

"Biff! Biff Tannen, you get out here right now!"

He snorts and sneaks past his gramma out to the back yard. He climbs up the tree, over the fence, and slides down into the Baines' yard. "What, Lorraine?"

The younger girl pulls him inside. "Listen!" They sit in front of the radio with baby Milton and her parents.

"That's right, folks, you heard it here first. It's all over in Europe. Victory in Europe. The Nazis signed the surrender, and President Truman declared today the official V.E. Day. Today marks the end of the war in Europe. Stay tuned for more news on the war in the Pacific!"

Static crackles over the radio as a Pepsi Cola ad plays.

Sam Baines turns the volume down and lights a cigarette. "About damn time."

"C'mon." Lorraine yanks on his arm, going outside. "Isn't it crazy?!"

Biff shrugs. "I guess."

"This is… history in the making!" she exclaims.

"Lots of people died, Lorraine. Don't be so excited!"

"But all those soldiers… they're so brave!"

"Only because they were on the right side."

She tilts her head. "Well, yeah."

"The strong side isn't always the right side." He shifts uneasily, cracking his knuckles.

Lorraine's eyes widen. "…Is this about what happened yesterday?"

The boy looks at her. "What?"

She sits down on the grass. "I heard about Billy Thomas an' what he did!"

"Billy Thomas is just a bully."

"So you hit him?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Lorraine."

Lorraine sighs. "Oh alright. But you shouldn't hit him back. Or else _you're_ the bully. Anyways, you know his father—"

"Is the mayor. I know!" he snaps. "He won't let me forget it."

"Oh."

Biff groans and lies back in the grass next to her. "Yeah. Oh. Just stay out of it!"

She huffs. "I don't know why I try to be your friend, Biff Tannen! No wonder no one likes you. _You're_ a bully too!"

"I never asked for a friend, Lorraine. You just decided to follow me everywhere!" he shouts.

She gasps and sits up. "Go home, Biff."

He looks at her in surprise. "What?"

"I said, GO HOME!"

Biff rolls to his feet. "Fine. You're no better than the rest of the kids at school."

"At least I've tried," Lorraine reminds him.

"Only to give up!"

"Because you make it so hard," she mutters, standing next to him. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for what I said."

"No you're not."

The girl shrugs. "I am. But if you don't want to believe me, you can leave. Otherwise, we'll try being friends again tomorrow. I'll teach you."

He chuckles. "Sure you will."

"I will. You'll see, Biff."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

April 17, 1947 4:05 p.m., Hill Valley, Mason St.

"Who's that?" Lorraine asks ten-year-old Biff, pointing to the man on Gertrude Tannen's porch.

He stops short and hands her the books he had been carrying for her. "My old man."

Her eyes get as big as saucers as she shifts the books in her arms. "Your father?"

"Yes. Look, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He glances up Mason Street uneasily. "Go on!" He pushes her up the driveway to the Baines house. "Get."

She huffs and stomps up the driveway.

"Where you been?" Robert Tannen asks.

"School," Biff answers sharply.

His father grabs his collar and yanks him off his feet. "Don't you use that tone with me, butthead."

"Robert, what you doin', Robert?! Biff, get in here."

"Yes, gramma." The boy slips inside the screen door and drops his books on the kitchen table. He takes the stairs two at a time to get to his room.

Something hits the window with a soft clink. Biff moves back the curtain and looks down. No one was there. Another soda cap his the window. He looks up, surprised. Lorraine gestures wildly at him to open the window, leaning out of her own next door.

"Biff!" she shouts as he pushes up the glass.

"Keep it down, will ya?" he hisses back at her.

The girl rolls her eyes. "Won't you come over? Ma made meatloaf. An' I need help with my math homework again."

"You do not," Biff argues.

"Do too. See?" She holds up an empty sheet of paper.

"I've got chores, Lorraine."

"I can help."

"You're not comin' in this house!" he roars. "I told ya that!"

She plops down on her bed, all but the top of her head disappearing. Reproachful eyes glare into his room. "I'm not that bad, am I? Why do you hate me all the time?"

He runs a hand through his hair and leans further out the window, wishing the oak's branches were strong enough to climb across. "I don't hate you, Lorraine."

"Well, Babs and Betty say you do. Why else won't you talk to me other than when we walk to school?"

"Who?"

"My friends."

"Right." He sighs. "And how well do you think Babs and Betty know me?"

"Betty's sister Lucy's your age."

"Lucy Williams?"

"Yes," Lorraine replies, sitting up with her arms crossed over her chest. "She's pretty. An' blonde."

"Yeah, so?"

"So! You obviously know her _and_ like her. So! Babs and Betty are right. So! It's me you don't like, Biff Tannen!"

"That's not true."

"Oh, really? Then let me come over. Or you come over here."

"No!"

"Hey, butthead, who you talkin' to?"

Biff leaps to his feet and yanks the window and curtain shut before sprawling out on his bed just as the door flies open and his father storms in.

"No one."

A soda cap plinks off the window. And another, and another. Biff flinches as Robert strides to the window and pulls open the curtain.

Lorraine drops the cap in her hand, mouth open wide. Robert chuckles.

"Hot damn. You're quite the Casanova, you little butthead. How old are you?" He claps a hand on his son's shoulder.

"I'm ten." Biff tries to shrug out of his grasp, but Robert's grip tightens. "Lemme go!"

"Who is she?"

"Just some girl."

He tightens his hold, hands moving closer to the boy's neck.

"Her name's Lorraine! She's nobody."

Robert peeks out the window again. "She's sorta cute, for a kid. Maybe you should introduce her to your old man."

Biff pulls away. "Leave her alone!"

"What's eating you, kid?"

Biff's fists fly up to protect his face. "Don't hurt her. Don't touch her. Don't even think about her!"

Robert laughs. "Don't tell me you're carrying a torch for a girl like that, butthead." He swings at his son.

"Ma, ma!" Lorraine shouts, clomping down the steps. "You gotta stop him!"

"Stop who, Lorraine?"

"Mr. Tannen. He's…he's beating Biff up! I saw from the window."

"Mr. Tannen? You mean, Robert Tannen? Oh, nonsense, dear. He's been in jail for the past seven years."

"Well, he's not there now!"

"Lorraine, that is quite enough. Either finish your school work or come and help me with dinner."

The eight and a half year old stomps towards the front door. "Babs is helping me with my math tonight."

"Be back in time for dinner, dear."

"Yes, mother." She walks down the block and turns onto Maple St., then starts running.

"Babs! Babs! Oh, hi, Mrs. McGregor. Is Babs in her room?" Lorraine asks, heaving for breath.

"Go on up," Babs' mother answers with a smile as she puts on a light jacket. "But we're leaving soon."

"Babs!"

The small, black-haired girl opens her door. "What, Lorraine?!"

"Can I use your telephone?"

The diminutive girl puts her hands on her hips. "You came all the way here, to use the telephone?"

"It's important."

"Oh, alright. But we're goin' to the movies. Wait till then?"

"Yes. Tell your mother I had to look at your mathematics book, and I'll lock the door behind me."

The girls share a grin and Loraine listens at the top of the stairs for the McGregors to leave.

Finally, she races downstairs and climbs up on a chair to reach the telephone.

"Hullo, operator? Can you connect me to the Hill Valley Police Department?"

* * *

A few hours later, during dinner, someone knocked on the Baines' front door.

"I'll get it," Lorraine volunteers. She pulls open the door, unsurprised at the police car outside 1809 Mason Street. "Hi, Biff."

The boy gives her a half smile. "I know it was you."

"I dunno what you're talking about, Biff Tannen," she retorts with a grin. The smile droops as she looks at his black eye. "Is he goin' back to jail?"

"Yeah, I guess." Biff looks at his shoes, wiping them nervously on the mat.

Lorraine wrinkles her nose. "Good!"

He winces, but she pulls him to the kitchen. "Mother, can Biff have dinner with us?"

Stella stands up. "Lorraine… oh!" She gets a good look at the bruises blooming on the boy's face and softens. "Well, Biff. I hope you like meatloaf."

Biff nods and sits down in the chair Lorraine pulls to the table. He ignores Milton's fascinated stare, pretends not to notice as Lorraine slips her hand in his left, and digs into the meatloaf.

 _So this is what family is supposed to feel like…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

December 31, 1949, 11:45 p.m., Hill Valley, Mason St.

"Aren't you cold up here?" Biff asks, goosebumps on his arms.

"A little. It's only around fifty degrees, it's not that bad."

"Says you."

She shoves an extra blanket towards him. "Come sit down."

"What are you even doing up here on the roof?" he asks, avoiding the edge.

Lorraine smiles. "Waiting for the fireworks. My parents are at some party, looking all spiffy. What about your gramma?"

"Fell asleep hours ago," he answers with a snort.

"So did Milton and Sally. Lucy Williams was s'posed to be watching us, but she's asleep in front of the radio. The New York countdown was ages ago."

Biff laughs.

"It's almost a new decade. I wonder what the 1950s will bring. Don't you?" She looks up at the inky black sky, pinpricked with stars. She can pick up the laughter and voices from downtown and the rosy glow of the town's neon lights.

"Will it really be so different than the forties? More war, probably. More people dying, killing each other, getting blown up."

"Or more people falling in love. More peace. More happiness," she butts in.

He snorts, but she elbows him sharply in the side.

"Don't be that way. Honestly!" she huffs, looping an arm around her knees.

Biff sighs and leans back against the sloped shingles. "It's not like life's that great for me, Lorraine."

"It's not like life's that terrible either, is it? I mean, you're here, aren't you?"

"On a roof in the middle of winter with a girl who's too pushy for her own good. Yeah, I'm here."

She sniffs. "If that's how you feel, the ladder is over there."

"You know I'm only ragging you."

Her retort is cut off by the shrill whistle of a firework whizzing heavenward from the top of the clock tower. It explodes into a golden shower of light.

She strains to hear the clock tower ringing out the strike of twelve. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," Biff mutters back. "This is probably a bad way to start out the year, so, uh… I'm sorry?"

Lorraine smiles slightly. "You're always sorry, Biff."

"Isn't that better than never?"

"I wish there wasn't anything to be sorry for, that's all."

He shrugs nervously as more fireworks go off in town.

She sighs. "Do you have any resolutions?" At his blank look, she continues, "You know, things you want to do or change."

Biff sits up again, shuffling closer to her. "I dunno."

Lorraine looks up at the sky. "I want to do something amazing."

"Like what? You're eleven years old."

"Well, maybe not this year," she concedes. "But someday. I wanna be somebody."

"What? Like Rosie the Riveter? Like Eleanor Roosevelt? Lorraine, girls…good girls don't become somebodies. They become housewives, or mothers. Then maybe they do something."

"It's a new decade, Biff Tannen. And any baloney like that certainly won't stand up. Look at all those ladies who were in the war!"

He shakes his head. "You'll see, Lorraine."

"Lorraine Baines!" a shriek comes from the inside of the house. "Where are you now?! So help me, if I catch you with that no-good Tannen boy, I'll tell your mama!"

Lorraine's eyes widen. "I hear Lucy is awake. I need to go. You should too, before she wakes up your gramma."

Biff laughs. "Then it'd be her hide, not mine. Go on, get her to quiet down before she wakes up the neighbors any more."

She crawls over to the ladder. "Happy New Year, Biff. And you'll see, the 1950s are going to be different. You'll see."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

March 2, 1952, 12:30 p.m., Hill Valley, Lou's Diner

"I just don't get it," Lorraine whispers over a milkshake at Lou's café.

Biff cranes his neck to look at the couple a few booths down. They were squeezed in the same seat and kept exchanging kisses. The fourteen year old laughs.

"What don't you get?"

"The appeal. Any of it." She makes a face into her strawberry milkshake, twirling the straw. "It looks like he's trying to eat her or something."

Biff snorts, trying not to choke on his chocolate shake. "He kinda is. Look, haven't you seen any of those girly films with Betty and Babs?"

"My mother won't let me go watch them." She sticks her bottom lip out in a pout.

"Well, then, let's go to the theatre today."

"We're already gonna get in trouble for cutting school," Lorraine reminds him.

"So? It was just a field trip. What's the worst that could happen? We get detention for two weeks instead of one. C'mon, Lorraine."

She puts her elbows on the table and rests her chin on her hands. "Oh, alright!"

He pulls her from the booth and throws some money on the table for Lou. The waiter, Goldie, holds open the door.

Biff and Lorraine walk down Main Street and inside the cool theatre.

"Two for the one o'clock matinee, please," Lorraine asks, handing over the right amount of change to the somewhat suspicious cashier. She gives the older man a sweet smile and takes the ticket.

"Dad's out again," Biff whispers later as the cartoon plays before the movie.

Lorraine pulls her eyes from the screen. "What? It's only been a year since he got caught the last time!"

Biff grunts. "He got off early for good behavior."

She snorts in response, making him smile.

"Forget about it. I'm old enough to fight him now. Besides, I'm sure I can always count on that anonymous tipster to save the day."

She bites her lip as the film starts. The reel leaves a flickering glow around the empty theatre as she glances back up at him. "You can count on me, Biff Tannen."

"I know that. I've always known that, Lorraine Baines."

She grins and slips her hand into his on the armrest between them. Biff gives her a quick smile and turns to watch the screen.

But he doesn't pull his hand away, Lorraine notes with a grin.

"Oh!" she exclaims later as two characters exchange a steamy kiss.

Biff gives her a sidelong glance. "What?"

"That's not how they were kissing in the café…"

The boy smirks. "Nope."

Eyes wide, she looks away from the screen and drops his hand, blushing.

"What's it feel like?"

He looks at her proper. "What? Kissing?"

Lorraine nods.

"Why do you think I should know?"

She gives him a look, crossing her arms. "Just because you go to the high school now doesn't mean I don't hear things. I know you and Lucy Williams got caught under the bleachers!"

"Says who?"

"Says Betty. Lucy wasn't allowed to leave the house for a month, except for school."

Biff chuckles. "She's not the only one, you know."

The girl's eyes go wide. "What?"

"I've had a girlfriend before, Lorraine."

"Kissing doesn't count."

"Fine. I've kissed girls before."

"And?"

"And it feels different depending on who it's with. I dunno, Lorraine." He shoves a hand through his hair.

She huffs and turns back to the screen, ignoring him for the rest of the film. The music swells near the end, and the main characters kiss again. She steals a glance at Biff, only to catch him watching her.

"What now?" he asks with a grin.

Lorraine looks away. "Nothin'."

The credits roll across the screen. Biff slips his fingers under hers and takes her hand. "Hold still."

"What?"

"Shush," he mutters. He gives her a quick smile and then leans over the armrest to kiss her.

Lorraine pulls back gently. "So, that's what it feels like. Not bad."

Biff sputters, "Not bad!?"

She grins and stands up, pulling him up with her. "I could get used to it." She stands up on tiptoes and kisses him again, a bit harder. "But you might need some practice."

She bursts into giggles and sprints out of the theatre.

Biff rubs his bottom lip thoughtfully and then smiles, chasing after her. He could get used to it too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

December 10, 1954, 12:30 p.m., Hill Valley, Hill Valley High School

"I saw that, Biff Tannen," Lorraine says with a giggle, sliding into a chair next to him in the cafeteria.

"Saw what? Ain't nothing to see here!"

His friends laugh and she stiffens slightly.

"Well, go on. Scram," he snaps at them after he notices the way she looks at them uneasily.

A sunny smile comes back to her face when the boys grumble and collect their books. "I saw you chewing out Billy Thomas just now."

"C'mon, Lorraine. Don't have a cow."

She leans over. "So, we parked last night."

He grits his teeth. "I heard."

Lorraine keeps on talking, playing with the hem of her circle skirt. "We were going to this bash his dad was having, but we went for a cruise first. Did you know he's got a convertible? He's such a dreamboat," she confesses.

The boy crunches up his napkin and stands with his lunch tray. Lorraine trails behind him, extolling the virtues of her date.

"Lorraine!" he snaps.

She stops chattering, shocked. "Well, what?"

"Listen, toots. He's got a rag top, fine. He's dreamy, great. But I don't need to hear about any…back-seat bingo, if you understand me."

"Don't be such a square," she whines. "It's not like I'm in love with him. It's just some fun, that's all."

He sneers at George McFly, hoping the bug remembered to do his history paper.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Honestly, Lorraine? No."

"And where are you going? School's not out yet!"

"I'm goin' home."

She wrinkles her nose in confusion. "Well, why?"

"Cuz there's nothing I need to do here, now."

"I know you have class," she reminds him.

Biff rolls his eyes. "That's not what I meant."

"I never know what you mean anymore," Lorraine complains, following him.

He jumps into his car, his pride and joy. It had taken two jobs plus all the lawn-mowing he could do in a summer to afford his first car. It only started if he wiggled the key just the right way, but it was better than walking everywhere.

"You getting' in?"

She grins. "You've got it fixed up nice, you know. It certainly sounds better than it did."

"Needed a new transmission."

He starts driving out of town, opposite of Mason St.

"My mother's having another baby."

Biff grunts.

"I know, you knew that. But honestly, don't you think there are enough of us already?"

"She's just trying to be respectable."

"By having babies?"

"That's what women are supposed to do, Lorraine. Get married. Have kids. That sorta thing."

"I never want that many kids. Or any, maybe." She digs around in his glove box. "Is this liquor?" she questions, holding up a bottle with a faded label.

"Yeah, I guess. One of the guys got it," he replies with a shrug.

She sniffs hesitantly and then takes a swig, gasping at the burn. "Not bad, for something that tastes like it was from the Prohibition."

"God, Lorraine. What's gotten into you?"

"Life! I'm sixteen years old, Biff Tannen. Not six."

"You're drunk already."

"Am not!" she laughs and hiccups. "But Betty snuck something from her old lady's liquor cabinet. And we were out for a smoke last period."

"You need to stop this. It's not… proper."

Lorraine snorts. "Proper. You're one to talk, Tannen."

"You are not me," he snaps. "I am just some no good kid with a criminal dad, and an alcoholic excuse for a mother. I can do whatever I want, cuz I have no reputation to destroy. You, you silly brat, do. You're gonna get married some day, and you'll regret this."

She takes another sip from the bottle. "I'll regret tying myself down. I'll regret not living."

Biff groans. "Lorraine."

"Biff," the girl says with a smile, holding the bottle by its neck with one hand and patting his cheek lazily with the other. "Shut up and drive."

He grumbles and shifts up a gear, shaking his head as he turns the car back towards Hill Valley.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

March 26, 1955, 8:00 am, Hill Valley, Mason St.

Biff wakes up to knocking on the front door.

"Biff, who's at the door? Biff!"

"I dunno, gramma!" he shouts back, drinking the last of the orange juice from the bottle.

"Get the door," she snaps.

"I'm goin'," the teenager mutters. "What?"

Lorraine Baines grins up at him in a pretty pink dress, holding out a cake. "Happy Birthday!"

"Lorraine, it's eight in the morning. On a Saturday. I sleep in Saturdays."

Her grin falters. "Oh. Uh, right, I knew that. I did. I… I can come back?"

Biff groans, rubbing his eyes and turning around. "Gimme a bit. I'll be over, and we can have cake."

She hugs him lightly and walks back next door to wait. The kitchen door opens and shuts quietly a few minutes later.

"So, how's it feel to be eighteen?" she whispers, trying not to wake her family.

"Not much different." He takes the piece of cake she offers, eating quietly.

She pouts at him and pushes the food on her plate around.

"What's wrong?" he asks, plopping his fork down and pushing the plate away.

She turns to look at him. "What?"

"Is something wrong?"

The teenager nods slowly. "You know that new kid? Ben Pierce?"

Biff grunts.

"We… we went out last month. And in the backseat, we sort of, well—"

He chokes. "Yeah, got it."

Lorraine turns pink. "Well, anyways… I think…"

At the long pause, Biff looks her up and down. "Think what, Lorraine?" he asks gruffly.

"I think I'm pregnant." She hides her face in her hands.

He jerks upward. "I'm gonna kill him."

"He left for Los Angeles a week ago. After I told him."

Biff clenches his fist. "Dammit, Lorraine. I _told_ you to stop fooling with those boys."

"It's not like I wanted this to happen," she snaps. "And I'm not even sure."

"Can't you talk to Babs or Betty about this?"

Lorraine wails, "No! They would tell my mother. Or worse, my father!"

He stiffens. "You haven't told your parents?"

"Of course not!" she retorts, appalled.

"Then I am."

"You can't!" She jumps up, yanking on his arm. "Biff, please!"

"I'll marry you, Lorraine. Then you don't have to worry. You'll be my wife." He smiles reassuringly.

Lorraine flops back into a chair. "Biff, I don't want to be your wife. I don't want to be anyone's wife, not now."

"What you want isn't important Lorraine."

"What?"

"You're…" he gestures at her stomach. "You're in the family way and you're going to listen to me, for once, got it?" He grasps her arm, pulling her from her chair. "Now go wake up your father."

Lorraine stomps on his foot. "Let me go."

Biff growls and pushes her away. "No one will want you after this, you hear me?"

"No one needs to know," she retorts shakily.

"Everyone will know. And you can be married like a decent girl, or not. That's your choice, Lorraine."

"Nothing is my choice anymore!" she shouts. Wide-eyed she looks up the stairs, waiting to see if anyone woke up. "Nothing," she repeats. "You don't understand what it's like. Being told all I'm worth is a kiss or two, and then having children."

"It can't be that bad. So, listen, Lorraine Baines, will you marry me?"

She stares at him, flabbergasted. "Haven't you heard a word I said? No!"

"We're meant to be, Lorraine." Biff pulls her up to him, kissing her hard. "Shall we make it official? You've not been too choosy."

She hauls back and smacks him. "Get out, Biff."

The board at the top of the stairs creaks, and Lorraine can hear her mother going around to her siblings' rooms to wake them up.

"Get out. All I need to do is scream."

"This isn't over, Lorraine," Biff promises as she pulls away.

"It is. I never believed them, you know. That you were as bad as they said. I still see that scared little boy when I look at you, Biff Tannen. And one day, you'll realize that's all you are. A scared, hurt, mean little boy who doesn't know how to do anything but hurt others right back. And I'll feel sorry for you. But I'll never forgive you."


	8. Epilogue-- Part I

**Epilogue— Part I**

November 12, 1955, 3:30 p.m., Hill Valley, Mason Street

"Lorraine, I need to go. Are you going to be okay?" Babs asks gently.

Lorraine looks up and wipes the tearstains off her cheeks. "I'm fine. Thanks, Babs."

The brunette smiles. "You'll look beautiful tonight, Lorraine. Calvin Klein won't know what hit him! And Biff Tannen will realize exactly what he's lost."

Lorraine sits up straighter. "He never had anything to lose regarding me!"

Babs just nods, as if to appease her. "Of course." She sighs. "I wish I was going with someone like Calvin Klein. But I'm stuck with Billy Thomas."

"Oh, yes. Stuck with him. Last week you almost cried for joy when he asked," Lorraine teased.

The brunette blushes. "I'll see you later tonight, Lorraine." She heads down to Maple St. and then over to Roosevelt Dr.

Lorraine stands up from the step on the porch to go inside.

"She's right, you know," a scratchy voice puts in from her left.

She jumps in surprise, noticing the old man with the white hair, red shirt, and checkered trousers. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

He coughs and clears his throat, leaning heavily on his cane. "No, no. But your friend is right. Any gentleman would regret the day he lost you as his love."

Lorraine snorts. "Biff Tannen is no gentleman. Besides, I doubt if I was ever his love."

The old man lets out a rusty chuckle. "You're just like her, you know."

The teen gives him a cautious smile and leans on the porch railing with her head in her hands. "Like who?"

"My girl. I… I once said something, did something, in the heat of the moment. I was jealous, and I didn't mean it. She was…so perfect. Always. No matter what I thought or said… It truly wasn't over until that day."

"What was it you did?"

He coughs. "Nothing polite."

Her eyes widen. "Oh!"

"Although this one kid was trying to steal her away. Doesn't mean it was right," he tacked on gruffly. "I nearly… nearly hurt her, very badly. I would've took advantage, cuz she trusted me. That kid stopped me, and I'll be grateful for that, even though I lost her that very day."

"Surely she must have loved you a little bit," Lorraine puts in gently.

"Not enough. Not that I blame her, really."

She bites her lip. "Oh, that's just so sad. And you've loved her all these years?"

"Since I was ten years old. I lost her when I was eighteen. I've never stopped. No one could ever measure up."

Lorraine sighs. "I'm almost eighteen now. It sounds like a story of… star-crossed lovers," she finishes grandly.

The old man smiles. "She'd like that. Even though our lives never crossed again."

"What happened to her?"

"She married the other boy."

"I'm sorry," Lorraine apologizes. "I shouldn't have asked."

He shakes his head.

"But," she continues, "I bet your love would forgive if she heard your story." She leans over the railing and kisses his cheek gently. "I would."

A smile crosses his face. "Thanks, Lorraine."

The teenager laughs. "How do you know my name?"

He smirks and says nothing, picking up his cane and making his way down the driveway.

"Goodbye!" she shouts behind him, with a giggle.

He waves behind him. The old man rounds the corner, and Lorraine goes inside to put curlers in her hair.

She never sees him again, she realizes years later. So many things had happened that day that she hadn't thought about him for almost a decade. It was still one of the most romantic stories she knew, but she never told George. He would have wanted to make it a novel, Lorraine thought. And it was just…too personal for that. Too personal, she thinks with a laugh. She never even knew the man's name. But somehow, it felt like the story belonged to her. She wouldn't share it.


	9. Epilogue-- Part II

**Epilogue—Part II:**

May 31, 1970, 3:45 p.m. Hill Valley, Lyon Drive

The doorbell rings.

"Mama. Ding-dong!" Marty shouts from his place on the living room rug.

With Linda on her hip, Lorraine goes to answer the door, shoving her messy curls out of her face. "Hello—Biff?"

He shuffles his feet.

"Mama, I want some more juice."

She looks at the brunette toddler and sets her down. "Go play with Marty."

"But Mama."

"Go play with your brother," her mother snaps, giving her a smile afterward in apology. "Just for a little while, okay, baby?"

Linda sticks out her bottom lip out, but Lorraine ignores her.

"Come out here," the woman says, pulling Biff out the front door to the porch. "What is it you're doing here, Biff?"

Biff shifts awkwardly. "I wanted to apologize."

Lorraine snorts. "For what? It's been over a decade since I've even seen you, Biff Tannen. And we didn't part on happy terms."

"I know."

Lorraine pulls her sweater tighter around her against the cool May breeze. "Why are you here?" she asks when no further apology is forthcoming.

"I'm going to Vietnam."

She pulls back and looks at him. "What? But… you can't have been drafted!"

Biff shakes his head stiffly. "I enlisted."

"But why?"

"Because there's nothing for me here. Now that Gramma is gone, I sold the old house. I never got married. There's no one. No one but you. And not even you, not anymore."

She sighs and sits down on the step. "Why did I ever stop smoking? I need a cigarette."

He sits next to her gently. "Listen, Lorraine. I'm not going for you. Not really. But I did some… some stupid things. And this probably won't make up for it. But I've got to try."

"When did you grow up?" she asks.

"November 12, 1955," he answers without hesitation.

Remembering the day, Lorraine smiles sadly. "An important day in history."

Biff nods. "In more ways than one." He stands up again, straightening his jacket as the school bus pulls to a stop down the street. "We ship out tomorrow, from LA."

She nods.

He heads down the sidewalk.

"Biff?" she calls.

He turns to look at her.

"Come home safe. Hill Valley wouldn't be the same without you." She slips inside, waiting by the front window for David to get off his bus.

The boy stops at the end of the sidewalk and looks up at Biff. "Who're you?" the six year old asks.

"No one. Listen, say hi to your mom for me."

The boy shrugs and goes inside, shrugging off his backpack. "Mom, there's some guy in the driveway."

Lorraine steps away from the window. "I know, dear. Now come here." She grabs him and hugs him tight. "I love you, kiddo."

"Mom, you're being weird."

"Mama, weird!" Marty parrots.

She laughs, wiping at her cheek quickly. Lorraine looks over her little family, remembering the baby that wasn't, years ago, and remembering Biff Tannen. _Funny_ , she thought, _how one day could change everything._


	10. Epilogue-- Part III

**Epilogue—Part III:**

November 12, 2025, Hill Valley, Hill Valley Funeral Home

"What're you doin' here?" Marty McFly asks the crotchety man in the corner.

"Nothin'. Just…say hi to your mom for me."

"Say hi yourself," a voice behind him says amusedly.

"Mom—"

"Marty," Lorraine cuts him off, "go to your kids. They need you more than I do."

He looks over at a weeping Marlene who was holding her husband's hand as she looked over old photos. Marty Jr. kept shooting worried looks at his very pregnant sister, but kept out of her way, talking to Jennifer quietly. Marty sighs and steps back into the line, accepting condolences and hugs wearily.

Biff stretches and pulls himself up from the chair, leaning onto his cane. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," she says quietly. "He would have been glad you were here."

"I don't know why," he grumbles.

"Because he thought you two were friends. Why is beyond me," Lorraine comments with a quiet chuckle, brushing white curls out of her eyes.

"I straightened out. Mostly."

"Mostly," Lorraine seconds, smiling tightly at the Stricklands as they leave the visitation.

"I'm glad you had a happy life, Lorraine. Even…even if it wasn't the one I wanted."

She sighs and looks him straight in the eye. "I told you once I could never forgive you. I found out that I could, when you were sent home from Vietnam, all banged up like that. But I can never forget, not even after years of you fixing up our cars or playing tennis with George whenever I was out of town."

He nods. "It's been seventy years since that night, you know."

"Seventy years with him wasn't long enough," Lorraine answers matter-of-factly. "Even a hundred years wouldn't have been."

"He was a lucky man, Lorraine."

"It wasn't just luck. It was our density. I mean," she says with a grin, "our destiny."


End file.
